Rick Barry interviewed Dolich on KNBR today. It was interesting hearing him talk about the A's, even though the conversation was mostly about the Memphis Grizzlies. A caller asked Dolich about why he was turned down by Selig a few years back. He said Schott & Hofmann accepted his groups offer. Selig & Co. didn't turn them down, they "tabled" the offer because the A's were on the list of teams to be contracted. He later mentioned that his 14 years with the A's were the best time of his career because he felt the A's were able to really connect with the community in those years. Imagine that, they connected with the community and drew 2.9 million fans! I still don't understand what "tabled" means. It seems like it means "put off until a later date" but I'm not betting on Selig coming around to the A's cause soon or that group re-assembling.

Kevin, the sale of the A's was "tabled" because it never went to a vote by the owners. Selig simply gave the excuse that MLB wanted to wait until after the Blue Ribbon panel gave its recommendation to decide on any change of ownership. (note that shortly after this Kansas City was sold with no problems)

Schotmann had made a settlement with the City of Oakland to sell the team to a local ownership for a hometown discount of 120 million. But that settlement was reached in exchange for 11 million, the settlement for them to drop the 48 million lawsuit againt Oakland. As part of the same agreement, Schotmann got out of the 10 year lease, got parking and food concession revenues and a year to year rent free lease.

There was a date deadline for the sale agreement of course. If a sale was not effectuated by that date, Schotmann would take the team off the block and remain with all the concessions given, including the 11 million.

The sale was tabled, the sale deadline date agreement with Schotmann expired and the rest is history...

Selig has been holding the Oakland A's hostage and on his hitlist for quite a few years. Just waiting for the right time...

Selig can kiss my ___. If anybody should of been contracted its those Brewers. The Oakland A's are one of the most successful franchises over the past 25 years. Contracting is not the answer to solving baseball's problems unless your in Montreal. Adding teams is the problem and they should of never added Tampa, Florida etc. Baseball should never contract a team with a rich history!

I do have a question was Dolich involved with the Save Mart Supermarket proposed purchase? Or was that a different deal all together?

Is Oakland the best place for the A's? Do you think that they would be better suited in Santa Clara? With all the promotions why doesn't Oakland sell more tickets?

The A's drew 2.1 million fans last season and attendance has been increasing for the past 3 years, as the team has become more successful. The marketing of the team isn't terrific, notwithstanding $1 Wednesdays.

Yes, Dolich, among many others, was part of the Piccinini (Save Mart) group. This was the deal that was "tabled" in 1999 by BS and the owners.

The A's belong in Oakland. Please read the OAFC Mission Statement on the front page. If you don't believe that, you might want to frequent some other discussion board.

idahoasfan, the present owners have been trying to move to the South Bay since they purchased the team. The national media and some of the local media keep harping on the fact that they have not been able to move to San Jose or Santa Clara because of the territorial rights the Giants hold there.

But the truth of the matter is that neither San Jose nor Santa Clara are willing to use public funds to build a ballpark for the A's. They in fact refused to build a public funded ballpark for the Giants when they tried a few years back. Both San Jose and Santa Clara turned the Giants down. Why should they build a public funded ballpark for the A's when the bulk of their fanbase is from the East Bay and not the South Bay?

Take a look at what MLB and Selig keep trying to do while A's fans support this team. Oakland has already proved they can support the A's with the proper promotion and commitment from an ownership.

The article below is from 2000 and not 2001 playoffs. Since then Santa Clara told Schotmann thanks, but no thanks. This South Bay stuff is a pipe dream of Schott.

What Oakland has to do is get a ballpark proposal on the table and call this MLB and Schott's bluff off once and for all...and I believe they are in the process of doing just that.

With the Oakland A's in the playoffs, the roar of the crowds is temporarily drowning out the buzz about the team's possible relocation. But post-season sellouts can't obscure the A's shaky future at Network Associates Coliseum.

Some behind-the-dugout moves are still being made.

A representative of Major League Baseball met with San Jose officials Sept. 22 at City Hall to gather information about the South Bay's ability to support a big-league franchise.

"Do not read too much into that," says Jude Barry, chief of staff to Mayor Ron Gonzales. Mr. Barry and the mayor were among a handful of city officials at the "courtesy meeting" sought by MLB consultant Corey Busch of San Francisco.

City officials discussed with Mr. Busch the strength of the San Jose market to support a team, but did not talk about a specific proposal to relocate the A's to Silicon Valley, Mr. Barry says.

The San Jose visit was one of a dozen made to cities nationwide that could be home to major league teams, says Mr. Busch. He declines to reveal the other cities, but he says other California communities were on his tour. He told Business Journal reporter Robert Mullins he's preparing a report to present to baseball commissioner Bud Selig on his analysis of the markets.

"The commissioner wants to be proactive in keeping things up to date," Mr. Busch says.

A's officials hinted this spring they may leave Oakland because of poor fan attendance. The Santa Clara Stadium Association offered the A's a new home, a move that drew limited support from the city of San Jose.

But with the A's battling the Yankees and the stands filled for now, "this is not the time to address this issue," says A's spokesman Jim Young.

Hi Idaho A's fan... the A's attendaence keeps growing despite Schott doing everything he can to kill it. Success brings out the fans! They (the A's) have made post season the last 2 years and this year might(will) be a third. We keep the faith and keep going to the games. That is our protest to Schottman! The A's belong in OAKLAND! And with new ownership that would be committed (instead on one that should be committed) the sky is the limit!

All the promotions? Promotions that they are looking at other locations...threats fans read everyday that the team might be sold and relocated or possibly contracted in the near future? What kind of promotion is that? An owner that goes public and states: "The A's have no future in Oakland"?

I would just like to point out that A's fans have continued to show their support inspite of the negatives and that will make it hard for the ones who like to throw the "attendance card" around...

and the argument that it is just because the team is winning doesn't fly either...

The Giants in 1997 were National League Champs and drew 1,690 mil fans...in 1998 the were again in the NL playoffs and drew 1,9 mil fans...

And the ballpark was the excuse...well, don't these owners say the Coli is unacceptable to play baseball? But yet the fans were there even when the team struggled and had a terrible April...the fans didn't give up on the team and kept supporting the team.

Bubba hit it right on the head. Our protest against Schotmann and Selig is to keep going to the Coli to support our team.

And with the new hope and promotion of a new baseball only ballpark...